Bearing the Pain
by LunarFallenStar0o0
Summary: In the process of saving his brother, Ed gave up himself for Al. Burdened with sadness, Al faces the guilt of losing his brother as well as the emptiness and sorrow. One-Shot [Warning]: Character Death


**LunarFallenStar: I've never really posted a one shot before... so yeah. This was interesting for me. I did this because I honestly didn't want to work on the stories I have now. I'm such a procrastinator. Well, this is basically a 'bad-ending' of sorts to brotherhood, where instead of Ed sacrificing his alchemic abilities, he gave up his life for all instead. So... yeah... read away**

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Al stood in front of the grave on the hill, staring intently at the name inscribed upon the cold slab of stone.

Edward Elric.

The teen fought back tears simply recalling the event that had claimed his brother's life.

He had given up his soul to save his brother, but he never thought that when his brother came back to get him, he would give up his own life in exchange for his.

A cool wind blew by and he shivered. He had only gotten his body back recently, and it was still quite estranged to the feelings of this world. A nagging thought pulled at the edges of Al's mind.

_I stole this sensation from brother._

_If I hadn't been there, if I hadn't done that, Ed would be the one feeling this wind. He would still be alive. It's all my fault..._

His golden hair rustled slightly as the wind blew through his short locks. He pulled his coat tighter around him, retreating further into its warmth.

_If I hadn't gone back to the gate, Ed wouldn't have died. Brother would be the one feeling his warmth._

Al's vision blurred slightly as thought after negative thought flooded his mind. The tears pricked at the corner of his eyes, threatening to spill over.

_I should be the one dead, not big brother._

The dam broke. Salty tears poured down his face. Sobs racked through his pale, wiry frame and he fell to his knees, unable to support him any longer.

The tombstone in front of him stared at him mockingly, the inscription haunting Alphonse forever.

_Here lies Edward Elric.  
A dedicated soldier.  
A loving brother.  
May he live on in our hearts._

At least his brother's memorial was next to their mom's grave... just like ed would've wanted.

Al's vision remained cloudy, the onslaught of salty tears never ceasing. The first line of his brother's tombstone was a lie! There wasn't a body buried beneath the ground below him. His brother had given himself to the gate: his body, his soul, his heart. Everything! There was nothing left of his brother in this world anymore besides memories.

No one had realized quite fully how large of an impact the shorter blonde had on everybody's life.

Rose was horrified and couldn't contain her tears. Scar offered a sympathetic silence. Even the Brigg's men and Olivia Armstrong were stunned, despite their code of the strongest survive.

Mustang's men could only stare dumbfounded when they realized they'd never see the smirking, overconfident blonde again. They had barely even managed to gasp out a broken 'chief' when they heard the news.

The ever serious Riza had cracked and shed tears. She had viewed the blonde as a son after all.

Mustang couldn't believe it. He even had a hard time believing it since his eyesight was gone. He thought it was a joke. A cruel, sick joke. But alas... it was the truth. At least he didn't have to see the blonde go...

Winry had been hit with cruel reality when Al returned home in his original body, all alone. She had tackled the younger Elric in a hug of course, but soon noticed a special person was missing from the equation.

When Al had told her, Winry's blue eyes were as wide as saucers, tears spilling over in a matter of seconds. Al had never seen the blonde look so alone or broken, not even when her parents had died.

Granny Pinako had just wrapped her arms around her granddaughters shoulders, trying to comfort her to the best of her ability. Her emotions hiding behind a mask.

Guilt had never weighed down on Alphonse's heart with such magnitude before.

They had decided to create a simple memorial for Edward, so everyone would remember him.

And now, here Al stood at the top of the hill, staring through blurry eyes at the cold slab of stone.

He pounded his shaky fists on the ground.

"Come on, brother! This is all a bad dream right?" Al choked out through sobs, "I'm going to wake up, and you'll be there with that stupid grin of yours. Everything's alright, right? You can't be killed... you're the fullmetal alchemist. Edward Elric! Come one... why won't you just come home already..."

His voice wavered, drifting off as his cries became to powerful for him to speak.

* * *

Winry gazed up from the base of the hill at Alphonse. She began to walk forward to her friend, but was stopped by a hand grasping her sleeve.

She stopped and looked down at her Grandma, who just shook her head, "Let him be for a moment, Winry... Let him be..."

Winry stared at her, tears pricking at her eyes, "How can I just sit by and watch this? I already lost Ed! I don't want to lose Al too!"

Pinako stared at her granddaughter with sad eyes, "I don't like this anymore than you do, but we must let the heart heal a little on its own before we try to sew it back together."

Winry stared back up the hill at her childhood friend, the sun sinking low on the orizon.

"Ed helped carry Alphonse through his life," Pinako said, "Now, Al must carry the weight of his death..."

"Equivalent Exchange, huh?" Winry said with melancholy, a single tear falling.

* * *

**LunarFallenStar: So? What do you think? It's my first attempt at this so I hope it wasn't too bad...**


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